captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruf good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, no progress yet as the pandemic persists, congress struggles to find common ground on economic r lief. i ask house speancy pelosi about the state of negotiations. then, covid crackdowns-- the ercoronavirus provides covor authoritarian leaders worldwide to consolidate their power and stifle dissent. plus, vote 2020-- jill biden on her husband's run for the white house and handling of the pandemic and, rethinking college-- while many colleges continue to charge full tuition, one school plans to keep its drtically reduced cos permanent. >> the lifetime earnings for

someone with a college degree in the right major is always going to be a good math formula. but is not worth it at any cost, and we've got to bring cost down overall. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. ng >> major fundi for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> since our beginning, our their financial wellbeing. that mission gives us purpose, and a way forward.da and always.

our u.s.-based customer service am is on hand to help. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> the john s. and jam. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutis: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like an you. >> woodruff: the nation is still watching, and waiting, tonight

see when the covid-19 resurgence will ease. r daily infection numbers e nation as a whole are down from rising in 26 states.till and, deaths are up itates. still, president trump told an interviewer last night thatde "it's control as much as you can control it." meanwhile, white house negotiats and democratic leaders are l talking about a new relief bill. they gave sharply different assessments of the talks today. >> chief of staff mark meadows, secretary of tasy steve mnuchin have been on the hill many, many days now trying to get th deal worked out but it is democrats, it is nancy pelosiit is chuck schumer that are making an absolute mockery of this ocess. >> the negotiaons are moving forward bit by bit and we're moving closer togethern certain issues.ak

weeach issue and we explain to secretary mnuchin anf chietaff meadows why this is the amount we need. >> woodruff: later treasury secretary mnuchin said they tried to work out a deal this week, could include unemploym mt benefits fllions of americans that expired last week. now all eyes aring on cogress to work through divisions to to give us aense of where ings stand, i'm joined by the democrats top negotiator, speaker of the house nancy pelosi madam speaker, welcome back to "newshour". in brief, where do things stand? we just heard secretary mnuchin say you're aiming for a deal this week. what does it look like from yur perspective? >> well, leader schumer and i said it earlier, availability with the press, that we all agreed we need to have an

agreement. we have toave an agreement, though, that faces the reality of the situation. we do believe that the white house has not really acceptedvi the gr of the situation, in smaller ways they needhinking to. we have a situation where we're trying to save the lives, the livelihood, and the life of our we are making some progress. we are understanding each other better, exchanging paper to see in writing leader schumer and i are ledge laters for many years. we understand when we have a challengeto face and we ned a legislative solution, we need to knowhat we're talking abut, that's why we have to be precise about whatay and the impact it has and we have a different point of view than the republicanwoon this. >>ruff: so are you coming closer together on that all-importt federal unemployment benefits number? democrats were asking for $600 a

week to coinue, republicans were saying $200. somewhere in between, we were told -- >> no, the's no in between. the fact is that since we pased our bill which was 11 weeks ago tomorrow, 3.3 million more people have gone on to the infected list, of those infected. 70,000 more people have died, d the republicans said they were going to push the pause button, and they did, an the east week they came up with som piecemeal thing. so we're not saying to the american people, more peoplere dying, more people are uninsured, me children are hunger insecure -- or food insecure and, guess what? we're going to cut your benefit. >> woodruff: well, madam speaker, i mean, with all due respect, you called it piecemeal, and, yet, what the republans were offering was short-term extension that would unemployment benefits to keep

flowing. democrats said no. well, it would have been finished by now. they're talking about a fewly -- actuthe fact is they didn't have anything that they could pass in the senate on their own side.es so if the wants to say, well, they offered this, they offered that, you can't offer something you don't have. we have a bill. it's called th heroes act. it passed 11eeks agoomorrow. it would have saved lives. they have nothing. they've said,e have 20 members who won't vote for anything. or are we talking reality about what one side or the other is offering? and if they wanted to offer a piecemeal thing for one week, that does not -- you ly do that when you'ron the verge o having it signed o law.ll and otherwise, it's just showbiz >> woodruff: so i'm trying to derstand where the two sides are coming together. for example, the republican

argument is that if the $1,200 they would give to millions of americans who need hlp right now would make up for some ofth lesser amount in isunemployment. hat -- >> that's exactly what we had in the cares act. we had the $1,200 in the cares t and we h the $600 in the cares act. so how does that make oupr subtracting something? that doesn't even make sense on their part. am woodruff: and then, mad speaker -- >> we have to get something done, but it doesn't help -- we have to get something dne. this is the gravity of the situation -- we wantnor our heroes by supporting state and local government, we want to end is virus byaving testing, tracing, treating. they said t osting isverrated, tracing they don't even believe in, and we want to pu money in h the pocks e the american people. we also have other things we want to do to protect our democracy th voting, to protect the post office and what that means to our country, a

strong osha law, and to feed our children. these are largely our priorities. and what they are saying is, well, we can't afford to do. th well, let's find out what we can can agree to, let' it donehat we as soon as we can so that we can get it out there, but let's not be misrepresenting about what we're presenting.uf >> woo excuse me more interrupting. what about with regard to foodd. democrats do have money in the heroes act proposafor good -- fr food, republicans don't. eeader mcconnell said the money they have that gs to schools would provide at least school would make up a significant portion of the food assistanc a that democrae talking about about.r >> in ll, we have $67 billion for food and then a small percentage of that is

called food and ulities. food, utilities, water, like that. $67 billion, over 60 billion of it is for food. b in thell, they have $250,000 for food. >> woodruff: and his point was that the money that they have for schools would pay for school meals fo many children, and in his words -- >> we have to do that yway. we have to do that anyway. we have to do that anyway. so we're far apart in terms of our values, quite frankly. we're far apart in understanding the gravityef th situation. are we determined to find an agreement? yes.l we wnd our common ground, but we won't find it on the slim read of a piecematl bill th says to our workers, you used to get $600, you're now going to get $200 because the virus has intensified in its sprd.

>> woodruff: the other point republicans are making is they are now showing fxibility i money for state and local governments. this is, again, difference. democrats want more money, republicans want a lot less. they are saying they are willing to show flexibility, and they're also saying a lot of the money passed in the sprg, madam speaker, hasot even been spent yet. >> well, if you want to be an advocate for them, judy. >> woodruff: no, i'm -- that's not what the facts are. >> woodruff: i'm playingde l's advocate. i'm asking you for your position. >> the point is, we have a bill that meets the needs of the american people called thero act. they don't even want to do state and local, and when they do, v ity meager, and they want to revert to money from before. much of the money that was allocated before has been spent or alocated, a sll amount has not because they want to see what we're doing in ths bill.

but that approach is no reason for us not to recognize. we hae $915 billion for states,a ties, counties and the rest, tribal governments and terrorists. they have very little money that they're offering, and it is -- you know, when we have a chance and when we're allowed to show you what the different numbers are.but our record is clear, our record is clear, we're thre for america's woking families, we're concerned that tens of millions of people have gone the 19th straight month of people going on to employment insurance, 19th straight week of nearly 1 million people going on unemployment insurance, childrenre food insecure by the millions, and they don want to spend the money necessary to feed the children,

families are in fear of eviction and they say, well, we'll etend the moratorium but we won't put anmoney to help with that rent, and in terms of t $600, we're going to cut your benefit, and that's how we're gog to observe this -- again, we'll find our common ground, but i don't think, in any way, as a legislator, that what they are proposing has any recognition of what is hpning to the lives, the livelihood and the life of our democracy. >>oodruff: yeah, so wht i was asking about was money that had already been appropriated that hadn't been spent andth whethe could be part of any solution here -- >> no, that's money from bfore. that's moy from beore. and as i said -- >> woodruff: another -- -- it's be sent. it's been allocated, and there's a small amount that they'reit g to see what we do here before they release. >> woodruff: and, again,n trying toerstand where the two sides may be coming together, as you know, they

argue spending so much money, the democrats' 3 trillio dollar is goi put the country into greater red will hurt future geodrations. >> wff: they didn't seem to mind when they gave a big tax cut to add $2 trillion to the national dt to give 83% of the benefits to the top 1%. it amazing how fee and clear of the debt they are when it comes to the rich friends and how exacting they are when a poor person gets $600. >> woodruff: is there any conversation about rolling back any of those tax cuts? >> we're not doing that in this bill. we would like to roll back. in the car act they put $150 billion for wealthy people ving nothing to do with coronavirus, and it retroactive for the taxes in the past. we would like to get rid ofi thatn't think we'll have the chance. but when we address the issue of

taxation in the country, we will do that in way that'sis bipa, has sustainability, fairness andranparentsy so the american people can see what's happening rather that be in the dark of night and the speed of light, a bill at gives 83% of the benefits to the top 1% and adds nearly $2 trillion to the national debt for the children to pay and then to come around to us and say how could we do this money for food stamps, it's going to add to the national debt. we have a big difference. with all due respectu o you as spected me, their piecemeal, meager approach doesn't recognize the gravity of the situation ifyhe had recognized it, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in.nc our bill passed 11 weeks ago tomonorrow, 3.3 mil people, again, have gone on to the list of those infected, 70 million have died. that didn't have to happen. bo>> woodruff: buttom line, with you saying there could be a

deal reached this week, legislation passed next ek? >> woodruff: i hopthat's a -- >> i hope that's a possibility. >> woodruff: that would be a plan. >> our difference is in our value systems. chuck and i are master legislators, we have been here a long time, know how to get things done and the devil andar the angele in the details. that's why we're exchanging papers to see what they actually intend to do rather than a conversation. but we have to have an agreement and we will have an agreent, but we're not going to it at the expense of america's working families. on the basis that, oh, it's going to add to the national debt. everybody -- that's chairmannen of the fed, others have sad,if we don't help now with the economy d stop the spread of this virus, the economic situation is only going to worsen -- worsen. so not investing and making it

safe for our children to go to school, our people to go to work, our -- the people we'r giving this money to to inject demand inthathe economy so tt the economy thrives, it's only going to make matters worse. so, again, we feel very proudful of the work that was done by our chairm to bring us to ths place, to help again -- i say it again -- save the lives, the livelihood and the life of our democracy. >> woodruff: house speaker g ncy pelosi, we thank you very much for joininus. >> thank you, judy. thank you so much. thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, a monstrous explosion shook beirut, lebanon and shattered much of the city's port. the health minister report at

least 70 dead and more than 3,000 injured. video show an enormous blast and shock wave that damaged buildings miles away. officials said 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up. special correspondent rebecca collard is in beirut, and spoke with us a short while ago. rebecca, thank you so much for talking with us. so what exactly is known about what happened? >> well, actually, judy, a lot is still not known about what happened today. the initial report said that this was some sort of a fireworks cache held in the port that caught re, but i can tell you where i am and we're very close to my apartment, we're miles from the blast site and even here we have almost no electricity. many of the buildings more than a dozen storiehigh have the top windows blowout, the walls are off, glass all over the street. so the most cent thi that we've heard now is there was some sort of chemical being held

chemical caught fire and because of that we saw this massive explosion, and we're really talking if you look at these photos, this video of the explosion, a massive explosion, and aft terwards huge plume of smoke coming from this area in berut port >> woodruff: massive afteraffect, loss of life, so many injuries we're hearing. >> yeah. the official tol from the lebanese government, the latest we're hearing is over 60 and over 3,000 people injurd, but i can tell you even where i am now to this point, hours and hours after this blast took place, i'm still hear ambulances ferrying people to hospitals. we've heard a lot of the hospitalsere in beirut are absolutely overwhelmed with the numbers oft injuries te coming in and, unfortunately, judy, i think over tonht and into tomorrow, we're only going andsee the number of dead injured rise really

significantly. >> woodruff: such a terribl incident. rebecca collard reporting for us from beirut. thank you so much.ou >>e welcome. >> woodruff: in this country, tropical storm "isaias" sped upr the i-95dor along the east coast today, leaving a trail of damage. coming ashore as acane inafter north carolina overnight, and heading north.t along the way,un off a tornado in windsor, north carolina that demolished mobile homes, flipped cars and killed two people. and, heavy rain triggereflash flooding in suburban philadelphia and elsewhere. the storm also knoed out power to nearly three million customers. firefighters in southern california have spent another day battling a wildfire east of los angeles. it's been burning largely out of control in mountains, but thousands of people have had to leave their homes. investigators say a sputtering diesel vehicle sparked the initial flames. the u.n. secretary-general

warned today of what he called a "generational catastrophe" in c educatiosed by the pandemic. in a video message, antonio guterres said school closures have disrupted learning for at least a billn students across 160 nations. he said getting kids back intocl srooms safely has to be a top priority.e >> we a defining moment for the world's children and young people. the decisions of governments and partners, they now will have olasting impact on hundre millions of young people and on the development prospects oftr cos for decades to come. >> woodruff: guterres saidhi minorityren, the displaced d others in crisis are at greatest risk of being left hind. back in this country, five states held primary elections today with voting by mai playing a big role. in kansas, congressman roger marsha and former kansas secretary of state kris kobach vied forhe republican

nomination for u.s. senate. in st. louis, docratic representative lacy clay faced a challenge from progressive cori bush. and in detroit, democrat rashida tlaib, a leading progressiven congress, was in a rematch with brenda jones, the city council presiden president trump has signed a bill that will pump nearly $ billion a year into conservation, national parks and outdoor recreation. the "great american outdoors act" became law at a whiteouse ceremony today. it's touted as the most important conservatisure in nearly 50 years. and, on wall street, major indexes managed modest gains, and have now made up nearly all of their loss from pandemic sell-off. the dow jones industrial averaga up 164 points to close at 26,828. the nasdaq rose 38 points, and,

the 0 added nearly 12 points. still to come on the newshour: dr. jill biden dcusses the campaign for the white house and her new book, enhere the light rs." the coronavirus provides cover for authoritarians wor to consolidate their power and stifle dissent. in light of the pandemic, one college plans to keep its drastically reducetuition costs permanent. and much more. >> woodruff: former vice president joe biden is expected to announce soon who he wants as his running mate. and the person closest to thes candidatcision-making is undoubtedly his wife, doctor jill biden.

her book "where the light enters: building a family, discovering myself," first published in 2019, is out in paperback today. and she joins me now. den, thank you so much f talking with us. so we're going to leave everybody in suspense about the vice president for a ew we're going to start by talking about your book. it's very personal. you write abut being 24 years old when you met joe biden, you marriedaim two rs later. he was already a united states senator with two children. he had lost his w firfe and another child. you were coming out of your own marriage, you desour how daunting it was. how did you do it? >> when i met joe, i -- you know, i was hesitant at first to marry him, and -- but it wasn't just my heart really that was on the line. ke you said, he had lost his wi and daughter, and i fell in love with the boys, but i had to make sure that this marriage was

going to work. i mean, you know, they had already lost a mother and a sister, and they could not lose a mother through divorce. so i said, yes, finally, and here we are, 43 years later. the book about the highs and the lows, the heartaches, incnglu especially, the death of your son bo, five years ago, from brain cancer.n io wrotee back last year when the book came out, you said you lost your fait h, butu hope that you could salvage itat ome day in the future. have you been able to salvage it since? y know, i have. something remarkable happened to me. we were on the campaign trail and we were visiting a church, the sunday service, and during

the service, a woman came up to me, and we were in th frt pew, and she put her hand on me and she said, dr. biden, i want to be your prayer partner. i thought, prayer partner? i had never heard of prayer partner. and, so, we got in touch, we pray together, we text one another a couple of times a gave me back my faith.years, she it was so remarkable. >> woodruff: you write in the book, also, about how tching is central to who you are. you've made a career of it over the many years. you were the first seconlady of thenited states to work tell you time while your husband was vice president. you said some years ag that you elected president, if he were do you still want to do that? >> i would love to do it. i'm ping that, if i have the honor of being first lady, that

i can continue to teach. so that's one of the things i'm really looking forward to. >> woodruff: education, it's so important to you, andt's a huge problem during this pandemic. right now, schools, parents, families agonizing over what to do. you've said the health the children and te teachers should be foremost, but, at the same time, you know very well not having an education can be ver damaging, especially for yung children with disabilities. how does that get resolved? i say we have to listen to the experts and find out and the ctors and only retu to school when it is safe to return hool. but i think what this pandemic has done, it has shown the inequity in education, and so have broadband, so many kids don't have computers or tinternet, and, so, we ne fix that. and this, hopefully, gives us

the opportunity, i think, moving into our next adinistration, where joe -- that's part of his plarntion i mean, he's already rking on a strategy, an education strategy so that all children can begin their education at universal pre-k, pre-kindergarten starting at age three. we have to address the inequities in our system, and my husband joe is prepared to do that and, judy, i'm going to be right behind him. >> woodruff: lt's talk about the fall campaign. do you expect to be out traveling, actually meeting with voters with your husband?ce and how coed are you? there is a pre-existing condition. your husband suffered aneurysms back a few decades ago, and just the virus out there >> we would love to be out on the road, we would love to be. joe is the bestampaigner ever, but we're going to listen to the doctors, and if they sy it's not safe to go out, we won't go

out. but, listen, judy, i men, loo at what we're doing today. i mean, we are talking -- e and i ar meeting with thousands of americans every day through zoom and thour these virtual meetings, and, you know, it't hatopped, it's just like we're on the trail, and joe keeps going and going. i mean, he has so much energy, d, you know, he was very young s old wha hed his aneurysm, and he -- you know, he recovered and hasn't had a problem since. >> woodruff: the campaign, as li'm sure you know, is aready one of the most if not the most polarized .in histo it's down and dirty. the names that are being thrownr aroundident trump has already called your husband corrupt, crazy, mentally shotht, most extreme left-wing candidate ever.

this is going to be one for the history books. how do you get prepared for that, because it is going personal? it is personal. >> it is personal, but, you know what, judy? we knew what we were getting into, we knew who donald trump was, and when we made our one another and i said, joe, we have been through a thebsolute worth thing that could happen to two people, and that is the loss of a child. i said, so donald trump, whatever he throws at us, we can take it because nothing -- i mean, and nothing haskn -- you is sticking to joe because the american people know joe,i they knows character. he's been in politics, they know his decency and his resilience and, quite frankly, you know, his leadership style, and i think that's what's going to make the diffence in the election. >> woodruff: and what about when president trump goes aft your husband for his cognitive

ability? how does joe biden assure the prepared?people that he is >> for trump to be saying that, you know, my husband is not up to the job is just ridiculous, and i think joe has proven -- he's been on the debate stage, you've seen him. i don't think joe hasth anyg really to prove to the american people because people see him, they see himily, they know him, they know his plans, they know his strategies, and i think people cann wait for a joe biden presidency. >> woodruff: just a couple of other things. back to the presidential selection, you told a reporter today that you're getting close -- your husband is getting close. how involved are youn this decision? >> it's a marriage and he, you know, bounces things of of me, i bounce things off of him. of course, we talk about it, ans

eecision. when joe was in white house with barack obama, they had a true friendship. i would say, you know, ieven developed into a love for one another, and our familiesre very close, and i think joe is going to be looking forhe woman who shares the same values that he shares, and i think that's what he had with barack obama, and that's what he's looking for. we assume he shares values with all the women who made the cutto or are dowhe final short list. but give us a sense of eci qualities that you and he are looking for. >> well, i think that it's really important that trust is important to us and, i guess, experience, wisdom, the things you would want someone -- you know, he needs a partner in

governorring and someone who ows has to govern and has the experience. so i love all the -- i mean, the women that are candidates now, each and every one of them would bring something really special and unique to th s ticke it's been really hard to look at each one and think, oh, my gosh, wouldn't she be wonderful, or wouldn't she be woderful. it's a really tough choice, judy. >> wudruff: i'm happy for y to give us a clue. (laughter) >> i know. i can tell you it's going to be a woman. >> woodruff: last thing, it was just last march what were you on a stage with your husband in los angeles and you physically stopped two people fromumping up -- you body blocked them from getting close to your husband. so my question , has the secret service dep yutizu? (laughter)

>> you know, the men and womc of the seret service are so great. i would be hnored to jn their ranks. but i have to tell you, you know, joe was giveg a sph, he had no idea what was happening behind him. i happened to turn around ande ople charging up the seps and, you know, judy, i didn't even think about it, i just turned and put out mhands to stop them because i had no idea what they were going to do, and i think, you know, as other, as a wife, it's just instinct that that's how you react. >> woodruff: we'll be looking for you to do it again on the campaign trail or virtually. drjill biden. thank you very much. the book is "where the light enters." thank you. >> thanks, judy.

>> woodruff: there is an old saying, "never let a crisis go and for some leaders around the world, the pandemic has been the crisis they've been waiting for. pro-demoacy groups say authoritarianism was already on the rise before covid-19, and as nick schifrin tells us, the pandemic has accelerated that trend. >> schifrin: they marched for democratic values and held signs, free country, free press. but in hungary, the press isin easingly not free. and democracy is sliding down an authoritarian slope. last month, the editor ofar hus most read news site was fired for covege critical of the government. n¡ly all employees at the' index' news site walked out. hungarian prime minister viktoro orban ha called index a" fake news factory." but covid became a cover, for him to expand attacks and seize more power.ng and it's happelsewhere. an open letter from 500 former

world leaders and nobel laureates waed covid-19 increased global authoritarianism that "threatens the future of liberal democracy." >> authority and authoririan leaning leaders across the wor t are using thpush through far, far more aggressive autocratic matters and to repress independent voices in >> schifrin: alina polyakova is the director of the center for european policy analys. >> i don't think they would've beenble to do this because there would be much more attention, much more criticismat time when we weren't going through a global pandemic.ch >>rin: covid has emboldened would-be dictators. in russia during a world war ii commemoration parade, police shoved protesters into vans thanks to a new measure against public assembly. vladimir putin won a referendum that extends his power until 2036. in egypt authorities arrested ophthalmologist hany bakfafor a book post criticizing the government for sending medical masks abroad, when he didn't have enough at his own practice.

abdul fatah el-sisi's government has arrested more than a dozen people for criticizing the official covid response. in other countries, opportunismn oland, president andrez duda pushed through and won a recent election despite e.u. concerns it wouldn't be safr.te the vo was upheld, by duda's handpicked supreme court. in hong kong, the pro-beijing vigislative council cited to postpone a planned september vote, it was expected to lose. prdemocracy groups say more 6 thelections have been postponed during covid, and more than 40 countries have restricted press freedom. times, require extraordinaryary steps, like border closures, quarantines, and tracking. ( translated ): w successfully defended our country and we did that thin democratic frameworks. powers don't expire, or have new anything to do with covid. in hungary, orban withheld covid relief money from his political opponents.

parliament temporarily ge him the power to rule by decree. he declared victory over the virus. but in this house, there is only loss. last month, lilla szeleczki's mother died. >> ( translated ): i really miss her. everybody loved her. she always made our favorite food for us and always got us little surprises and presents. it hurts a lot that she is not with us anymore. >> schifrin: szeleczki's mother was suffering from kidney cancer when she was sent home to make room for covid patients. and downplaying covid, meant hungarians didn't receive the information they needed. could ve been prevented, and that in hungary, no one person, should have total control. >> ( translated ): i think itta was a huge m that unlimited power was given in one person's hands. >> schif is that covid arrived when democracy was already under attack. s freedom house says 2019 e 14th consecutive year of decline in tir global freedom index.

to discuss that and how authoritarianism has sprea during covid, i'm joined by anne applebaum, staff writer at "the atlantic" and historian on central and eastern europe and author of a new bookust out, "twilight of democracy the seductive lure of authoritarianism." anne applebaum, welcome back to the newshour. you've known many of the players in poland was one example. we just cited hungary. you've seen them shift over the decades from advocating democracy to eroding in some of their ses, rule of law. what happened? >> you have to look country by country for a complete explanation. but i do think you can point to across both mature democracies and new democracies, a kind of disappointment with democracy. and sometimes this is a cultural disappointment. people don't like the way their societies have changed. and i think we have to acknowledge that there is a part of every society that doesn't like that cacophony and noise of democracy and the arguments thao

n't like the fact that democracies can't take instant decisions the way autocracies can. >> schifrin: turning to covet and the focus we just put on one particular country, hungary, and its leader, viktor orban. how did orban take advantage of covid to seize more >> iean, in fact, when the coronavirus arrived in hungary, orban used it to illustrateathat he was a fully in control of his system. in other wordscrhe passed a and an order that said that from for e period as long as he wanted, in fact, he would be able to rule by decree. and a number of hungians said to me,ell, you know, we know this sounds terrible, but a way, orban was simply confirming what we already know, which is the operates functionally already as a dtator. there are no checks and balances on him.as and heimply using the excuse of the coronavirus to rub this in. o >> schifrin: othe aspects, of course, of orban's crackdown is against freedom of the press. and we've seen governments all over the world restrict freedom

of the pss. what's the long term impact of some of those measures? >> the instinct to crackdown on the free press and to try and control speech and to channeled in certain directions, i think has always been with us and the growth of simply allowed somego rnments to take advantage of that situation. remembering that for many people, moments when they are afraid and when they fear for their lives are often moments when they are willing to trade freedom for security or freedom for safety.n: >> schifet's talk about china for a second. that propaganda apparatus hasic waged an ideol battle, arguing that their version of communism, their couctry, their ste is better equipped to deal with this kind of crisis. nt you fear that that argu could be accepted by people arnd the world who will sa >> the problem with the chinese aredment is that it's underm by their own actions during the crisis.

and the fact that was the chinese government that first denied that the pandemic was dangerous, and so china is not in a good position to be arguing that its method of deang with the virus is the best. but even when u step away from that, there is another interesting thing happening. many of the countries that have dealt best with the virus are democracies. they have governments that can create a sense of community and of trust and get people to behave in a way that reduces the virus. and so and tre are a number of autocracies at the same time that have done badly. so it turns out that the lin between who's doing well and who's doing badly is not democracy versus dictatorship. it's to do more with efficiencyi with trust community and solidarity. >> schifrin: lastly, presidents trump ised the possibility of delaying the u.s. election. where is the u.s. when tt comes s story? >> his purpose is to undermineh our fa the electoral

process itself, so thale don't vote, so that they, they and then perhaps s they doubt the results if the result is bad for him. this is a tactic that is used by authoritarians all over the world when thewant to undermine people's faith in the stem, they, they undermi their faith in voting and in the purpose and meaning of voting. we've all been convinced for many decades now that americanac demois something inevitable. it's like water coming out of the tap, or the air wehe, that there's nothing special that we have to do, in order to, in order to perpetuate it. but the lessons from around the world show that democracies do die. people lose faith in them. political parties with anti- democratic beliefs take over democratic countries. our democracy, like every democracy, requires work.it equires reform. it requires renewed commitment. it may require new kinds of

politics. and it may be that all of us are going to have to be a lot more involved in politics, and think a lot harder about how to ensure that our democracy survives, than we ever expected to. >> schifrin: anne applebaum. democracy: the seductive lure of authoritarianism." thank you very much. t >>hank you. >> woodruff:ven though college classes will be taught only remotely at many schools, plenty ofreolleges and universities charging full tuition this fall. hari sreenivasan has a report about one school cutting tuition substantially during remote learning in the fall and makin plans to keep it low permanently. ri's story is part of our rethinking college series. >> sreenivasan: during his final yenths of high school, 18-ar- old anthony cavotta, a varsity

golfer, spent time refining his swing and thinking about the cost of college. his older sisters have about $180,000 dollars in combined college student loan debt. their parents, both public school teachers in saratoga springs, new york, worked extra jobs, and rented out their home. but the pandemic ended that extra income. anthony's father, michael, says there were a lot of difficult conversations as the family f tried ure out how to pay for anthony's first year of colleg $23,000 after financial aid and a golf scholarship. >> we don't live in a big house so voices carry. and he can hear those conversations about how this was going to happen and how we were going to manage going forward financially.an it was stressful. >> sreenivasan: but about a month before his high school graduation, anthony got an unexpected email from the school he was planning to attend: southern new hampsre university, also known as s.n.h.u. >> that email was basically twos paragrong. and there was no confusion.

we are going to waive your tuition for your first year and then it will be 10,000 a year after that. >> that's huge weight off me. i can't believe someone would ouve to pay that much for, know, an education. >> sreenivasan: paul leblanc agrees. >> the lifetime earnings for someone with a college degree in the right major is always gog to be a good math formula. but it's not worth it at any cost, and we've got to bring cost down overall. >> sreenivasan: leblanc is the president of s.n.hu.a private, nonprofit university in manchester, new hampshire. the scol is lowering tuition for students normally on campus start from $32,000 to $10,000, while remote learning continues, and has committed to permanently reduce tuition to $10,000 in the years to come. all-incoming freshman are thceiving a full-ride scholarship for r first year. leblanc says the school planned to lower tuition in 2023, but the pandemic prompted the

>> this recession, and this level of unempyment dwarfs the st recession, and we see enormous need for new,va inve models at a lower, more affordable cost.it so, the schools probably won't feel much pressure to change, they'll get back to normal. they'll say whew, that was aer prettyble period, but we're back to the kind of way we always were. but there are probly fewer than 50 schools, out of 4,000 that fit that category. i think r everybody else things are up for grabs. >> sreenivasan: s.n.h.u has a relatively small campu the largest univerys, but it is enrollment because more thanst 130,00ents attend online. >> when i made that first phone call they made it so easy. >> sreenivasan: you might have seen the ads on tv. under leblanc's leadership, the school has spent more than $500 million on nionamarketing since 2009. it's boosted enrollment and profits. e school brought in more thanil

$100on last year. >> our ability to be in front of more people, to serve mo students, has also meant that we haven't raised tuition in over 10 years. >> sreenivasan: but the school has faced scrutiny about its marketing spding, as well as concerns about graduation rates and what s.n.h.u. graduates earn. and it's often lumped together with for-profit competitors when issues are raised about the quality of online degree programs. m but now, as y universities and colleges across the country trng to adapt to onlinelly and arning, le blanc says s.n.h.u is financially solid and an expert at remote learning. g >> iso far as to argue that the best online courses are often quite superior to traditnal, face to face courses. >> sreenivasan: while other and offering indivowering costs discounts, s.n.h.u stands out for the amount of tuition it's cutting. cost-cutting was on prt leblanc's agenda well before the pandemic.

we first visited the university six years ago when it offeretea unique comy-based degree for mastery of subjects vs inedit hours for time spen class. since then, the school h continued to tinker with ways to lower costs by reducing the tim students spendpical campus-based lecture courses. g blanc says the school'sl after the pandemic is to hav on-campus yearly tuition be thei same as . >> to go from 32 to 10 is a heavy lift. one will get there by cutting. you can't cut enough expense out of what you do to lower tuition to that level. so, it really means thinking about structural change, and systems. is there any reason why we can't go 12 months out of the year, and get students out into the workforce faster? >> sreenivasan: incoming junioro anzanian is one of the students on the frontlines of she's enrolled in a pilot project which, before the pandemic hit, combined self- driven competency-based online arning with dorm living and

classroom supports. >> it's very differela from a reclassroom. there isn't a teacher teaching you. there isn't someone sitting in front of you for hours on end talking to you i feel like it's easier, because i'm learning on my own, at my own pace and i'm grawhat i really need from the program. >> sreenivasan: while she says d the program has been a gt for her, giving her flexibility to work while attending school, employers will view herture unconventional degree. >> when someone looks at my resume they're not going to see that i have a g.p.a., or grade, because e program doesn't require a g.p.a. i would have to explain to them exactly what the program is about, and how it's >> sreenivasan: that and other issues could come up for the boundaries of itionalshes college education. but president leblanc says higher ed needs to adapt to meet the needs of today's employers.t >> not hold our new models up to a standard that our existing models don't meet today. in reality, an employer looking

at a college transcript can't actually discern very much about what you actually learned. employers think about skills, so moving into a skills based, or competency based framework gives us a common langge with employers. >> sreenivasan: teaching that new framework will be faculty like lowell matthews, an associate professor of global business and leadership. he says while some professors are still on the fence about the changes, he's up for redesigninb ng a professor of african opportunities personally to be able to go to college, i'may actually stillg today for my college degree and experience. so when you talk about equity, it's very personal and real fort me because i al in debt. so are we really setting up s students fcess by allowing them to graduate with debt?en >> sasan: matthews and his colleagues are hoping the university's lower tuition will help to leviate those debts. the school will announce how it

plans to get tuion down permanently during the following school year. for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: president trump held a press briefing at the white house again tonight. yamiche alcindor was there and joins me now. yamiche, first of all, we understand the president made commts about this massive explosion in beirut today, more than 70 dead, thousands injured. >> reporter: that' president trump took questions on that topic and he said it looked like a bomb or some sort of attack happened in that city, but there's no confirmation of of course, there was that massivexplosion, but the president aid it just looks like that and military offaricis still looking into exactly what happened there. >> woodruff: and the otherwa thing to ask you about, yamiche, the president had comments on mail-in voting again. >> reporter: that's right, the

president over and over again has come out against the idea of mail-in voting. he said without any sort of evidence that mail-in voting would be fraught with fraud and that people would be trying to game the system, but today hetw ted and again doubled down on this idea during the briefing that flori is the state that can do ths mail-in voting without any issues. critics of the president say he's trying to carve out this ste because it's a key battleground state, the state he won in 201 the president says it's because it's safe and clean there, but from what we uerstand, there is no evidence that mail-in voting involves any fraud and in of americans will try to cast their ballots by mail, do absentee ballot, becse crowds could obviously be infected with the coronavirus. so this is the prsident changing his stance onoting for one state, florida. >> woodruff: the president and others in the administration acknowledged they meme

themselves add voted by mail. >> reporter: that's right, the president and white house press secretary have voted by mail. the president insists who live in a stahate other n florida, you should physically be going in november and voting instead of actually voting by mail which is what a lot of americans want to do. i should not the president said there was fraud in a new york elec eon. again, nvidence there was any fraud in that election, and it'f clear a lomericans are simply afraid to walk into these lines where you might be thshoulder to shoulder eople as you try to cast your ballot. 2020 will be highly contested and a lot of people want to take partbut if there's record turnout, there could be a virus tbreak. people are looking to vote by mail, except the president in florida where he owns mar-a-lago and he vacations a lot. >> woodruff: a case we'll look

at for weeks to months throughout this erection. yamiche alcindor reporting to us fr the white house. thank you, yamiche. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, ank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealthanagement, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that's fidelity wealth management. >> carnegie corporation of n york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and

security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by e corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. calling card, why doesn't iggest president trump do more to avoid driving american families off a financial cliff? his niece, clinical psychologist mary trump, says the answers can be found in her blistering new memoir. for this to last, people need tbe behind the scenes. it's imperative. th an exclusive interview ooward einfil. i wrote thisbecause i wanted people to see the world that people don't see. >> award-winning author james mcbride tells us about his new